Summer of highs and lows

Yass
Valley has just sweltered its way through the second hottest summer on record
since 1912.

All
three months were warmer than average, according to figures recorded at
Burrinjuck Dam.

Bureau
of Meteorology (BOM) climatologist Acacia Pepler told the Tribune the average
temperature was five degrees above normal (at 34.4 degrees), second only to the
summer of 1939, which recorded an average maximum 35.8 degrees.

“It’s
been very warm in January, which is mainly associated with the widespread heat
wave that impacted a lot of Australia in early January,” she said.

There
were three days of above-40-degree temperatures, with 41.0 degrees on January
5, 41.1 degrees the day after, and 40.7 degrees on January 18.

She
said rainfall to Wednesday 9am had remained reasonably close to the summer
average of 181mm, recording 165mm this year.

BOM
statistics show the highest maximum temperature for December was 35.3 degrees
on December 2.

Just
three days later we experienced the coldest December day, with just 20 degrees
on December 5.

Not
surprisingly, the coldest night recorded was four degrees on December 6.

The
hottest night was December 12 with a minimum of 14 degrees.

The
mean temperature for December was 28.8 during the day, and 9.9 degrees
overnight.

A
total of 46.6mm of rain was recorded, most of that (31mm) on Christmas Eve.

In January
BOM recorded the hottest night was January 3 with 16 degrees.

The
coldest January day was on the 30th, with a maximum 30 degrees and minimum of
9.5 degrees.

Rainfall
was light, with just 32mm recorded, most of that (28mm) on January 30.

The
last month of summer the mercury rose to 36 degrees on the hottest day,
February 10.

The
coldest day read 25 degrees on February 11.

The
hottest night was recorded on February 26 at a sticky 18.5 degrees. The coldest
night occurred February 4 with just six degrees Celsius.

Rainfall
to 9am on Wednesday was at 28mm, with an impressive and steady 24mm recorded on
February 25.

The
Tribune notes these statistics are not exhaustive due to a number of days when
temperatures and rainfall was not recorded in Yass.

Ms Pepler
said Yass residents could look forward to a 50/50 outlook for autumn, with no
strong signs it was going to be wet or dry.

“We
don’t have a strong la nina or el nino event at the moment, so the odds are
50/50 … it’s fairly neutral.”

“There’s
not a strong push towards wet or dry.”

She
said it was normally the case that autumn tends to lack drive from either
event.